[Anchor]
Photographs currently on display at some of South Korea's overseas diplomatic missions have been confirmed by our reporting to be works by a well-known artist who issued a public apology in 2018 over allegations of sexual misconduct. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it "only just learned about the controversy itself" and will "review whether to remove the works."
Kim Hye-young reports exclusively.
[Reporter]
These are photographs displayed at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea in Geneva, Switzerland.
They are works by photographer Bae Bien-u, widely known for his pine tree photographs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds a total of 9 works by Bae, including these.
In 2018, amid the height of the MeToo movement, as a series of allegations of sexual harassment and molestation were raised involving his students while he was a professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts, Bae issued a formal apology, stating that he "deeply repents" his wrongdoings.
At the time, the city of Suncheon in South Jeolla Province shut down a creative studio named after Bae and removed his exhibited works.
Gyeongju National Museum and Jeju Museum of Art also took down Bae's works from display.
However, it was found that the Foreign Ministry had not conducted any review regarding the appropriateness of displaying Bae's works when hanging them at overseas diplomatic missions.
While the embassy in Japan and the mission in Geneva have continued their display, the South Korean Embassy in India recently took down his works from exhibition after a lawmaker requested materials regarding Bae's display.
The Foreign Ministry maintains that it "learned about the controversy surrounding Bae for the first time through this inquiry."
[Kim Joon-hwan / Member of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee (Democratic Party): South Korean embassies (stationed overseas) serve as forward bases for promoting South Korea. The fact that (Bae's works) have been left unattended for 8 years and that there was no awareness of the problem constitutes a dereliction of duty by the Foreign Ministry and the embassies....]
This is not the first time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has come under criticism for artworks by controversial artists.
Works by painters Kim Ki-chang and Kim Eun-ho, designated as pro-Japanese collaborators by the Presidential Committee for the Inspection of Collaborations for Japanese Imperialism, were removed following criticism from the National Assembly. In addition, works by artist Lim Ok-sang, who was convicted of indecent act by compulsion, were also taken down and stored separately after the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ordered them to be closed to the public.
The Foreign Ministry told SBS that it plans to convene an art review committee to discuss whether to continue displaying Bae's works.
(Video by Cho Choon-dong, Bae Moon-san, and Kim Tae-hoon | Video Editing by Wi Won-yang)
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